TERRY L. FOSSUM

“You’re never going to grow up to be anything!”

Terry L. Fossum was born in the poorest city in the United States, a Texas/Mexico border town where drugs and gangs were prevalent.

In Junior High, he stared down the barrel of an assault rifle one night in his own back alley.

In High School, his father was killed.

Before Terry’s father died, one of their neighbors came up to him and said,

“I just want to make sure you understand something:

Not a single one of your boys will ever grow up to be anything.”

Terry received his degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. From there, he received a commission as an Officer in the United States Air Force. As a Captain, he served as the Executive Officer for the entire Group of Nuclear equipped B-52 Bombers, KC-135 Air Refueling Aircraft, T-37 Training Aircraft, and UH-1 Search and Rescue Helicopters.

Among numerous other awards, he was named Officer of the Year for Fairchild Air Force Base, Humanitarian of the Year for Strategic Air Command, and Distinguished Graduate from Squadron Officers’ School.

Next Terry started the Global Marketing Group, where he set up sales teams around the globe.

He trained them, inspired them, and helped them succeed.

He became a multimillion dollar earner in the process.

Upon getting married to an amazing woman. Michelle, and becoming a dad to three teenage and preteen boys in 2009, he retired to focus on building a strong, close-knit family.

“I can always make more money. I have one chance to help raise these boys to be Honorable Men.”

While his boys were in school he completed his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, wrote award-winning books, and participated in numerous philanthropic causes.

When his youngest twins had turned 18 and were ready to move on, Terry had been praying “What do you want me to do next God? Whatever it is, I’ll do it.” “Be careful what you ask for!” Terry says.

He checked his email one day to see one from a casting company from a brand-new survival reality TV show on Fox, pitting 10 of the top survivalists across the country against each other in a jungle, while dragging along a novice ‘Kicking & Screaming’.

He was the oldest competitor on the show, and the ‘token Boy Scout.’

He and his partner won.

A few of the causes Terry is passionate about are the Terry L. Fossum Training Center in Rwanda, Africa, training the widows and orphans of the horrible massacre in marketable skills; the Agricultural School for Family Independence in Malawi, training farmers to increase their crop production several fold; Children International, Rotary International, Project ID for the Intellectually Disabled, Terry L. Fossum Scholarships for Underprivileged Youth, and Boy Scouting, where he is the Vice President for Program for the Inland Northwest Council.

Now that his children have grown, he continued his passion of speaking to groups across the country and around the world, helping them overcome the obstacles that have been holding them back, and perform at a level they themselves never thought possible.